Jeb Corliss recently found his videos all over the news, featuring his near fatal crash at Table Mountain in South Africa. He survived and after many other previous stunts including flying through a cave in China, it is a wonder he is still alive today. His crash was not enough to discourage stuntman Gary Connery in his recent world record wingsuit jump, landing without a parachute into a pile of cardboard boxes. [Read more...]
Humans have made it to the north pole, the south pole, to the moon, to the bottom of the sea, to the top of Mt. Everest — it would seem that there are not too many places left to be pioneered. The Grand Canyon, being one of the most well known monuments on the planet, would be the last place you might imagine unexplored canyons. Most of the Grand Canyon is associated with seeing the incredible views of its grandeur, but it is the narrow slot canyons that make up the intricate pathways of the water making its way into the giant canyon and river below. The final line in the trailer below suggests that John Wesley Powell first discovered the Grand Canyon 142 years ago, but there are still places there where no human has ever been. [Read more...]
A few days ago this video came across my radar. It is a man drafting behind a semi truck at 55 mph. That is right, on a bike, keeping up with a truck on the highway at 55 mph! It is insane to watch how the bicyclist hardly has to work to stay in the draft behind the truck. That is the power of wind, and with the tornadoes and hurricanes that have devastated the United States in the last handful of years it is a force that we often underestimate. [Read more...]
All the wildest sports, the fastest moving objects, the most intricate parts of science, seem to have been captured in beautiful quality over the years. Thanks to slow motion video technology we have seen time slowed down to a crawl, showcasing the most amazing things in a kind of clarity that cannot be seen at full speed: from a speeding bullet to a monstrous wave at Teahupoo, It’s as if slowing things down gives us the godlike ability to see even the most intricate of details. This technology has been around for many years, but recently it has become far more affordable, and as a result, many more visuals from athletes to animals have been captured like never before. What can be thanked for such advances? The Phantom HD camera is largely the culprit. [Read more...]
You heard it. James Cameron is much more than just a movie producer/director, he is a serious badass. We all know him today for the big movies like Terminator, Avatar and Titanic, but he is leaving the world of make believe soon. Actually he left it a while ago, but his new expedition is his biggest yet. [Read more...]
As of 2010, 3,142 people have climbed Everest with a total of 5,104 ascents. Some have skied it, others just climb, but Babu and Lakpa took an entirely different approach. Both had climbed the peak before, but they did not want to just climb to the top again: this time they wanted to focus on an epic descent. From the top in a paraglider, the two glided as long as possible to land, rode bikes to the river, and jumped into kayaks paddling their way thousands of miles down the Ganges to the Indian Ocean. On February 28th, the two won National Geographics readers choice Adventurers of the Year for 2012, the perfect finale for their 29,028ft descent from Everest to sea level. [Read more...]
Wim Hof has truly earned himself the nickname of “Iceman.” The Dutch world record holder now possesses 18 world records, one of which is the longest ice bath. Doctors have studied his incredible ability to control his body temperature, using the Tantric practice of Tummo, which Hof claims allows him to turn up his own body temperature using just his brain. In addition to his world record setting feat of remaining for 1 hour and nearly 15 minutes in an ice bath, he has also climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in two days with nothing but a pair of shorts and completed a full marathon above the arctic circle, again with nothing but shorts. His icy marathon took him a total of just 5 hours and 25 minutes. Still not impressed? In 2007, Hof attempted to climb Mt. Everest in his shorts. He did not make it to the top because of a foot injury, but he did not stop because he was too cold. [Read more...]
Back in the 70s, a Frenchman named Philippe Petit bravely and illegally walked a tightrope between the World Trade Center towers in New York. He was arrested for this stunt, but his legacy lives on in the documentary about his exhilarating accomplishment: Man on Wire. Now, a new incarnation of tightrope walking has been born. Instead of using a wire, a 1-inch piece of high strength nylon climbing webbing is the material of choice and, because of the increased flexibility of the webbing, the sport has been dubbed Slacklining. Popular with climbers for decades as a method to improve balance, Slacklining has caught on and now has international competitions with stunts like backflips, spins and a variety of other incredible feats of balance. [Read more...]
Have you ever ridden a bike up a tree? The likely answer to that question is no as the vast majority of humans lack the skill to pull off such a feat. Danny Macaskill on the other hand, does it on a regular basis amongst other tricks like front flips off buildings, riding along railings next to huge drop-offs, spins over stairs and much more. He is a humble Scotsman who grew up riding trials bikes in the small village of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. It almost sounds like a fairytale, but growing up in a town of only 2500 people far from everything is a great setting to get a young kid to spend most of his time riding a bike [Read more...]
It is not often that suicidal thoughts can be the source of something positive in someone’s life. When he was growing up Jeb Corliss often had thoughts of suicide and was extremely depressed. For someone that does not care whether they die or not, base jumping and parachuting seem like a perfect fit. Jeb started out as a skydiver and then went on to become a base jumper. His depression went away, but then became an obsession. [Read more...]
